Monday, December 10, 2012

So much is happening so fast these days that I make a point, several times a day, of sitting down to find the stillness that is present if only we take time to listen for it. Sitting down with a pug in my lap with afternoon tea and a good book is a must at this time of the year. And as I muse during these times I think about the disappointment I felt at not being able to do this blog in the way that I had been, and now I am much happier with it than I've ever been because I feel like we are on a journey together. Someday you may be sitting with my book in your hands and while there will be so much that you never knew about you will come upon these passages that we shared along the way. It delights me just to think about it. I hope it does you too.

Also, I did want to say that I hope you lovely members of my mailing list are not too disappointed that the promised eBook has not been sent out yet. It will be, I assure you, but if you saw the entry here a few entries back you will have seen that, having it nearly ready to go out I knew that it just wasn't right. My work with SARK (Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy, I know you know her books!), my mentor and teacher who is helping me with my book just now, has created an explosion of creativity inside of me and so YES! the eBook will be coming but in a completely different format and very different and very much better. I wanted to give you a handmade gift that you could use and treasure and not just trot out an ordinary eBook! So it is coming, I promise!

Today's piece for the book came to me early this morning and when I wrote it I just knew that I had to share it here because we are worried about so many things at this time of year, but in the end, worry gets us nowhere and there's really no reason to worry at all. Read below and you will see what I mean...

"This morning I watched you moving slowly into your day, doing all the little things you do, and feeling a tenderness toward you as each day comes with its own package of combined fears and hesitations, excitement and the pure joy of unexpected happenings. There is that split second as you open your eyes that you feel it all and it takes an extra bit of energy to leap into the day.

We so easily forget how precious each moment is as we rush through our day. Think back. What was the first thing you did this morning when you opened your eyes? Did you lie there a moment and contemplate the day ahead, map it out, send loving energy throughout the day ahead and approach it with a smile knowing that you could handle anything? You can you know. The thing is that we spend so much time worrying about the things we think we can't handle that precious time slips away all the while the truth is that when things come up we handle them because we have to, and we do. Imagine looking forward to your day with anticipation and happiness, gratitude for all that will come, not fearing a thing because whatever comes you know you can handle when it does, and oh the very many delights you will encounter when you put your worry basket down and walk ahead without it.

Here's a backwards sort of exercise in a world where there are nothing but powerful affirmations coming at us from every direction (... and they are good but so often we get that "yadda-yadda-yadda" feeling and kind of go blank and don't take it in because it feels like someone is just spouting the latest lingo and it will pass like all the rest...) -- write down the things you are most worried about, just for today. You can keep a worry book with bigger, longer standing or farther reaching
worries elsewhere when you have more time. And these kind of "worry books" are fabulous because they flip your worldview upside down and set you right!

Make two columns. The first column is labeled, "I am worried about..." and just jot down the list, quickly, as many as come to mind in, say, 5 minutes or less. Now, the second column will be titled, "And I really don't have to worry about it because..." For every single thing you are worried about I can guarantee you you will find something for the second column. Anything from "I can handle anything that comes, as it comes, with ease;" to "I know I can call on ______ to help me;" or I have these resources _________ (write down as many as you can think of) that will make handling this a snap; to realizing that everything doesn't need to be handled that instant and that you can give yourself more time to figure it out. There are a thousand reasons we can handle anything we need to. The worry comes from "anticipatory anxiety" which is fear of something before it happens, and when you think back to these times you will likely remember that no matter how worried you were ahead of time it went just fine once it came time to doing it.

So there you are, in bed, the sun is beginning to shine in your window and your eyes flutter open. Imagine starting each day not worrying about a thing but just smiling from ear to ear thinking of all of the good that will come this day, saying "Thank You," out loud and feeling gratitude fill you like an overflowing pool, gentle and cool, and cleansing, and I bet, I just bet, you will find it much easier to spring into your day and move through it with far more ease. I'm going to be watching you
with such joy. I can just see what a difference it will make in your life, and this time next week you will have turned a corner and found the yellow brick road. Isn't that grand?"

From, "The Deep Listening Soul Guidebook,"

copyright 2012, Maitri Libellule

My mother passed 3 years ago this month after a terrible five year battle with cancer. No matter how badly she felt, and even when she was going through the worst of the worst of the worst, when you called her and asked her how she was she'd say, "Every day's a good day, it is what you make it." She was so brave, and such an inspiration to us all, and she was right. Every day's a good day, make it the best you can and realize what a gift it is, and a new one is here to be unwrapped every single morning when we open our eyes...